PHOENIX - Self-professed "toughest sheriff in America" Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office were guilty of racial profiling, a federal judge found Friday, before ordering a permanent halt to the practice.

In a 140-page ruling, Judge Murray Snow said Arpaio's department, under his direction, was detaining individuals believed to be in this country illegally without some other reason to arrest them for violating any state laws.

Snow said that continued to occur even after the Department of Homeland Security revoked the department's authority to identify and detain those not in the country legally.

The judge also said department policy and practice allow officers to consider the ethnicity of a vehicle's occupants in determining whether they have reasonable suspicion to investigate them for violation of state immigration laws.

"In some instances these policies result in prolonging the traffic stop beyond the time necessary to resolve the issue that initially justified the stop," Snow wrote. Absent some reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, holding people longer than necessary violates their constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure, he said.

Snow said that entitled Hispanic individuals who sued to an injunction permanently barring the Arpaio's department from using Hispanic ancestry or race to determine whether to stop a vehicle. It also prohibits deputies from detaining or arresting Latino occupants of a vehicle on a belief that they are in this country illegally if race is the only factor they have.

The order also bars the agency from detaining Latino occupants of vehicles stopped for traffic violations any longer than necessary to process the citation unless officers have "reasonable suspicion" that any are committing a federal or state crime.

Arpaio said he does not believe his agency engages in racial profiling. "That's why we're going to appeal it," he said.

But Dan Pochoda, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said the ruling confirms allegations Latinos have been "terrorized" by Arpaio's deputies and "forced to endure years of racial harassment and abuse." In a prepared statement, Pochoda said all that can be laid at the feet of "Arpaio's proven willingness to seek political gain at the expense of public safety and constitutional guarantees."

Friday's ruling has no financial implications, as the plaintiffs in the civil case did not seek damages, but only an injunction to require the agency to changes its practices.

At least on paper, the instructions to deputies were that vehicles were not to be stopped based on the race of those in a vehicle, Snow said. But he said evidence painted a different picture.

"While officers were prohibited from using race as the only basis to undertake a law enforcement investigation, they were allowed as a matter of policy and instruction to consider race as one factor among others in making law enforcement decisions in the context of immigration enforcement," the judge wrote.

Snow reached his ruling after reviewing years of crime prevention "saturation patrols" by the department. He said these were far from neutral.

The department "almost always scheduled its day-labor and small-scale saturation patrols where Latino day laborers congregated," he said. "The same is true for a considerable number of its large-scale saturation patrols."

And Snow said it is clear the purpose of these patrols was to enforce immigration laws, citing the news releases issued by the agency's public relations officers.

"These news releases either emphasized that the patrols' purpose was immigration enforcement, or prominently featured the number of unauthorized aliens arrested during such operations," Snow said. "Most of the time, the reports ignored any other arrests that took place."

Snow also said the saturation operations were just a pretext to stop vehicles with people who may be in this country illegally.

Everybody’s guilty of ‘profiling’ - it’s how the species survives. Even Jesse Jackson once said that though he was embarrassed to admit it, if he saw a group of young, black males walking down the street he would move to the other side.

Let me see, we have a huge pattern of illegal activity by a group that looks a certain way but we cannot look for them by group because that is profiling? What about when the G was knocking out the Mafia and did a dragnet of all guys named Salvatore, Vito and Nino or when WWII broke out and they said lets round up all the Japs and put them in concentration camps, that was not profiling? Profiling is a great tool, it cuts the wheat from the chaff.

The thing that aggravates me to no end is when all these utopian ideas come to fruition and we are left broke with some third world status, we will not be able to seek retribution from those who put us there.

If I were Sheriff Joe, I would have teams of deputies following this scumbag Judge, And every time he did something wrong pull him over and issue a citation, follow him to Dinner and throw him in Jail for DUI after he has that glass of Wine with Dinner. Make it impossible for this piece of shit to live his life.

Just one more reason for the fedgov to oppose it. If local and state governments start using resources efficiently, people might start to expect the feds to do the same, and that is something they can not abide.

Murray Snow is a Mormon whose father was an LDS bishop. Snow did his 2 years In Mexico and speaks fluent Spanish. The LDS are relentlessly pushing for illegal Alien Amnesty. Snow should have been challenged from the beginning.

This from the article..."In a prepared statement, Pochoda said all that can be laid at the feet of 'Arpaio's proven willingness to seek political gain at the expense of public safety and constitutional guarantees.'" should have read...

In a prepared statement, were the TRUTH to have been said, the quote should have been; "Arpaio's proven willingness to seek public safety at the expense of political gain and misinterpreted constitutional guarantees is what resulted in a liberal-biased judgement against him."

50
posted on 05/25/2013 8:25:57 AM PDT
by harpu
( "...it's better to be hated for who you are than loved for someone you're not!")

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